Welcome to the first of four articles about something we all do every day. Editing.

Everyone edits. Everyone. All the time.

Editing is a second look. Editing is as simple as
reading email before you send it, to make sure that you included
everything you want to say, or as complex as overhauling a book
manuscript.

If you don't consider email vital
communication, and you're not writing a novel, do you need to think
about editing? If you use written communication in any aspect of your
business, yes. You do.

As I wrote in my April 2005 Onwords™ column, Written communication is often the first impression you make on potential customers, business partners or employers. Misspelled
words, grammatical errors and sloppy writing tell your reader that you
either don't know better or don't care enough about them to communicate
properly. Certainly not the message you want to send to your customers
or associates.

In the next few articles I will delve
into two types of editing, copy editing and content editing. Copy
editing is a check for spelling, grammar and typographical errors. It's
making sure you spell a customer's name correctly in your business
letter. It's checking punctuation in your instructional design manuals.
Copy editing ensures that your press releases and newsletters go to
print with commas in the right places, proper capitalization, and no
misuse of their, there or they're.

Content editing combines copy editing
with an in-depth assessment of content and writing style. Content
editing ensures that all cited facts are validated (fact-checking) and
properly referenced, and that quotes are accurate and correctly
assigned.

Content editing involves reworking the
writing style with an eye toward precision, economy and flow. It
ensures that your sales letters and promotional materials are easy to
read, vibrant and compelling to your audience.

We all conduct more business in writing
and less in face-to-face meetings than we did even one year ago.
Editing makes your writing as powerful as you need it to be.

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